Go see it.

This was one of the best movies I have seen in a long time.

Stimulation

In my career I have visited many creative studios. There are many that believe in order to keep “creative types” happy at work, you have to provide lots of toys. I have seen a concept room in which the floor is one huge pillow. I have seen pinball, fusball, and video games within studios. I have played basketball on the rooftop of one agency and drank at a fully stocked bar inside another.

The further I move forward in my career the less these things matter to me. When I was getting my start, sure, these things were important. These days I spend much of my time trying to avoid stimulation. Information seems to be coming at me in all directions. I get information supplied to me over instant messenger, twitter, flickr, text messages, voice mail and of course my personal as well as work email. All there things happen simultaneously while I am listening to music in my headphones. I am plugged in at all times. Whenever a message or email comes in I run to check it. This has got to stop. Good ideas are extinguished by these kinds of outside distractions. I need less in my job, not more. I want a studio to offer me work environment where email is filtered for me. Or perhaps someplace where I can focus on one or two jobs at a time. not fifteen. I want to concept with a sketch book in a blank room, not at the same time 8 people are visiting my office.

I know what you are thinking…quit bitching and do something about it. I agree. Here are a few things I am going to do to make my life less stressful.

1. I will check my email at 8:00 am, noon and 5:00 pm. That is it.
2. I will come to work before you do, and I will be damn good at making coffee
3. I will exercise in the morning. This will get my blood flowing.
4. I will focus on quality over speed. Less concepts, more attention to detail.
5. I am going to get my letterpress going. It is what makes me excited about design right now but I can’t find the time to do it. I have to overcome this.

Trip to NY

I recently took a work trip to NY. The only way to describe it is overstated. Times Square can only be described as graphic design vomit. Everything is about out shining the next. Flashing lights, neon, movement, dimension, it is everywhere. You want to make something stand out in TImes Square? Do an all white 50 foot billboard with small helvetica bold in the middle. Who knows, the whitespace might start a revolution.

The HOW Design Conference

I just finished all of my sessions at the HOW Design Conference in Atlanta. I must say the speakers this year were spectacular. They went far beyond any and all expectations. Sure, I have my small complaints about location and the way things were set up. But other than that I fell that I learned quite a bit about my craft as well as myself. The sessions were very diverse and you could choose different sessions based on your interests. A few of my sessions included: Finding Time to Work at Work, Avoiding Creative Burnout, Time Management, Hand Made Design, How to get the Work you Deserve, and Managing Creatives for the First Time.

I wanted to share with you 10 steps on dealing with work and clients. I feel that these 10 steps are great for any profession and not just life as an art director.

1. 10 minutes in the morning: Sit still, be quiet, think of nothing, focus only on breathing.
2. Release hostility: Remove yourself from what made you angry about yesterday.
3. Focus and Make a List: Write out everything you need to do for the day.
4. Underpromise: Tell them how you can help, and then always over deliver.
5. Look for the Good: What is correct right now? Build on that.
6. Early to Bed: A god night sleep is amazing for productivity
7. Early to Rise: Go to work early before others get there and use that time to focus on concept development, keep the afternoon for meetings and production.
8. Philanthropy: Volunteer for the homeless so you can see how bad it really is. Suddenly your problems are not so bad.
9. Perspective: Think about it, are the things that bother you the most really that bad?
10. Smile and Laugh: It’s addicting.